Marie louise fuller



(No Model.)

M. L. FULLER. GARMENT FOR DANCERS.

No. 518,347. Pateted Apr. 17, 1894.

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UNITED STATES j PATENT OFFICE.

MARIE LOUISE FULLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. 7V

GARMENT FOR DANCERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 518,347, dated April 17, 1894.

Application filed October 12, 1893. Serial No. 488,004. (No model.) Patented in France April 8, 1893, No. 227,107, and in England May 24,1893, No. 10,296.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARIE LOUISE FULLER, a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certainv new and useful Improvements in Garments for Danc- 1ng, (for which I haverobtained patents in Great Britain, No. 10,296, dated May 24,1893, and 1n France, N0. 227,107, dated April 8, 1893,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in garments particularly adapted for theatrical dancing and more particularly adapted to that class of dancing known as the serpentine dance.

My invention consists of certain improvements hereinafter fully shown and described, whlch improvements materially assist the dancer in posing, and, in causing, by movements of the body, the folds of the garment to assume variegated and fanciful waves of great beauty and grace.

By this improved garment many poses and movements may be executed which it is impossible to execute with a garment of any other construction.

My invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the skirt. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of an improved wand used with the skirt to facilitate the manipulation thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modified form of Wand, and Fig. at is a perspective view of a figure, clad in the improved garment.

A is a skirt which may be formed of several triangular pieces preferably made from any suitable light flufiy material, the several triangular pieces being sewed together so as to produce a skirt very broad at the base and narrow at the top. The upper end of this skirt is affixed to a suitable crown, B, adapted to surround the head and to be securely held thereto. This crown may be formed of any suitable material, but by preference I make use of a light material such as aluminum.

This crown may be provided with any suit-.

able means for adjusting its size. Inside the skirt and attached thereto are the wands D D. These wands are, by preference, curved or hook-shaped at their outer ends, but may be straight, as shown, and, by preference, are provided at their inner end with a handle E, although I do not limit myself to the use of a separate handle. These wands may be made of any suitable light material, by preference aluminum or bamboo. The outer ends of these wands are, by preference, provided with the perforations or grooves F F to facilitate the attachment of the garment A thereto by sewing or other suitable means;

By the use of wands connected to the dress a double purpose is afforded. First, it facilitates the creating of the waving motion in the folds of the garment, and, second, it assists the dancer in performing statuesque poses, and in imitating diderent styles of wings. By providing at the end of the wands a single, or double curve, it will be readily seen that by holding the wands aloft the garment will be spread out to give another form of wing.

I do not desire to limit myself to a straight or curved wand for the reason that either form of Wand is practicable.

In attaching the garment to the wands, I, by preference, gather the garment into graceful puffs G G and secure them by sewing at points adjacent to the perforations or grooves in the wands above referred to. It is obvious that these wands may be attached at any suitable place in the garment, but, by preference, I attach them near the lower edge and on opposite sides of the garment at points adjacent to the sides of the wearer, as shown in Fig.1. When thus secured, the folds of the garment almost constantly entirely envelop the figure during the dance and the manipulation of the skirt, although the said garment may be free to open entirely in front.' I

In hanging the skirt from the head of the wearer, it will be readily seen that the curves or spread of the garment will have much more radial latitude than a garment secured around the waist or close under the arms, thus permitting the production of more rounded out and graceful evolutions of the garment.

By the use of a skirt of variegated colors in connection with white or colored projections of electric or calcium lights, beautiful scenic effects are produced.

It is not necessary to have the upper end of the garment fastened entirely around the ICO crown B. The front may be left open, so as wands one end of each of which is attached not to conceal the face of the dancer, and, if to the skirt near. its lower inner edge, adjadesired, the garment may be caught together cent to the sides of the dancer, the opposite I 5 at a lower point. ends of the wands being loose and adapted to 5 Having thus described my invention, what be grasped by the hands of the wearer for the I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patpurpose of manipulating the garment, subent, isstantiall y as and for the purpose specified.

As a new article of manufacture, a dancing garment consisting of a skirt the upper edge MARIE LOUISE L 10 of which is attached to a band or crown-piece, Witnesses:

said skirt being open in front from the lower R. G. MITCHELL,

edge to a point in the crown'piece, with two H. B. BROWNELL. 

